Idle No More: Freedom in an Era of Climate Change

Idle No More has quickly become one of the largest Indigenous mass movements in Canadian history – sparking hundreds of teach-ins, rallies, and protests across Turtle Island and beyond. It has also brought together a number of solidarity groups and allies looking to work against the current and pending governmental policy that impacts on collective rights, social safety nets, and environ- mental protections. The impetus for the Idle No More events, lies in a centuries old resistance as Indigenous nations and their lands suffered the impacts of exploration, invasion and colonization. Idle No More seeks to assert Indigenous inherent rights to sovereignty and reinstitute traditional laws and Nation to Nation Treaties by protecting the lands and waters from corporate destruction. Each day that Indigenous rights are not honored or fulfilled, inequality between Indigenous peoples and the settler society grows. Idle No More continues to educate and inform all peoples of the continued colonial impacts to lands and resources. About the Lecturer: Sylvia McAdam (Saysewahum) is from the Treaty 6 lands in what is now called “Canada”. She is a direct descendant of Treaty peoples. Sylvia is nēhīyaw and nakawe and speaks fluently in nēhīyaw. Sylvia has her Juris Doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Justice from the University of Regina. Sylvia is co-founder of a global grassroots Indigenous led movement called ‘Idle No More’. Idle No More has changed the political and social landscape of Canada as well as reached the global community to defend and protect all lands and water from devastation. Through the work of protecting land and water, Sylvia has been selected for several awards namely; Carole Gellar Human Rights Award, Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers 2014, Social Justice Award, and 2014 Global Citizen Award